Pajaro Dunes

We went to Northern California with the Lloyd family last week. It was so fun to have everyone there. We stayed in a beach house on a private beach called Pajaro Dunes, near Monterey. Although it was a little chilly (not quite like Newport), it was awesome to pretty much have the beach to ourselves. Highlights of the trip included the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a train ride through the redwoods, skim-boarding, sand castles, dolphin-watching, late-night gaming, beach soccer, collecting sand dollars, and just lots of family bonding.

The Book Thief

I loved this book and would highly recommend it. I really enjoy reading World War II books, but most of them are from the jewish perspective. This book is different because it is told from the german point of view. It was very interesting to read about a young german girl's perspective of Hitler, Hitler youth, bombings, etc... Death is the narrator of the story and his sarcasm lightens the otherwise heavy subject a bit. The book also focuses a lot on the power of words, their power to destroy and their power to save. This is a powerful book that is very creative and well-written. It has definitely been added to my list of favorites.

Happy Birthday Rich

Today is Rich's 36th birthday. It is also exactly 3 months since he passed away. I think about him everyday. I am forever grateful to be his sister. I love you Rich.

24th of July 10K

Thirteen years ago my brother Rich rallied all the siblings (except Fro who was on a mission) to run the 24th of July 10K. We were not runners. In fact none of us had ever run before - not a race or even a jog around the neighborhood. But Rich was dating Marianne at the time and she was a runner, so I think that's where the inspiration came from. And since Rich is pretty good at "inspiring the troops" and hyping things up, we all decided to run it cold turkey. I remember when the race started Rich just took off. He was weaving in and out of runners and we were all just following his poofy hair. We had a great time and we all did surprisingly well considering our lack of preparation. I ran pretty much the whole race with my brother Nate who was nine years old at the time. I didn't want him to be left behind. But then on the final stretch runnning up towards Liberty Park, he was the one looking back at me saying, "C'mon Em, let's go. We're almost there."
So somehow this year I got talked into running it again. And once again, I wasn't very prepared. And once again I ran the whole race with my brother Nate, who is now a runner at Utah State. He was so great to hang back and run with me. I would not have made it without him. I looked at him about four miles into it and I'm pretty sure he wasn't even sweating. Al and Dad also ran. And even though Dad has a bum knee and Al had the flu all week, they were ahead of me. What superstars.

Birdhouse

For some reason, Eli got it into his head that he wanted to build a birdhouse. Blair told Eli they would make one after work one day. All day he could not stop talking about it or thinking about it. He was so excited. He drew pictures of the birdhouse that he wanted to build so that Blair would know how to build it. At one point during the day he insisted he needed to go to Dad's work to show him some changes he had made to the drawings. So after work they went to Home Depot, bought some wood, and came home and built a birdhouse. I had to document it with a few pictures. I must say, I was pretty impressed. By the way, all night I had the They Might Be Giants song, "like a little birdhouse in your soul..." running through my head.

Independence Day

We had a great weekend celebrating our country's independence. Here are a few of the highlights. We kicked off the weekend at the Oakley Rodeo. The kids loved it. Eli now wants to be a cowboy.





I think Owen makes a good cowboy too...

I ran the East Millcreek 5K with my friend Ashley and some of my fam. Incidently, I was the only member of my family that did not win a medal. Oh well, maybe next year.

Eli decorated his bike and participated in the neighborhood parade.

We had a great time up at the cabin with some of the Allen family. Eli was pumped to sleep out in the tent with his dad. We also loved the firework show in Midway.

Happy Independence Day and long live the Union!

Quote of the Day

Someone shared this quote with me this weekend. I'm not sure where it's from, but I really like it.

Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy, and celebration. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and savor each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer, and to celebrate the joy of everyday. The hummingbird's delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning, and that laughter is life's sweetest creation.